Canberra’s most authentic Italian Pizza: Trecento Pizzeria & Bar

A 300-year-old recipe, eight years of research and an international expedition drives the quest for the perfect pizza.

I am quite a pizza fan and have done the rounds (once or twice) of a lot of Canberra’s pizza establishments, everything from enjoying it delivered to my door in a brown box to the high-end slick service of hatted restaurants.

So I was quite intrigued to taste the offerings at Trecento, a pizzeria, and bar that is serving up authentic Neapolitan-style pizza, using a 300-year-old Italian recipe.

Based in Manuka, the pizzeria serves up a variety of tempting pasta and traditional pizza made by “Master Pizza Makers,” who are certified by the Associazione Verace Pizza Napoletana (AVPN) – a highly regarded association that regulates the verity of Neapolitan pizza, worldwide.

Founder and Part-owner, Jon Kosteski said the idea for Trecentocame about in 2008, after a family holiday to the pizza capital of the world, Naples. “The pizza was so unbelievable and like nothing, we had ever tasted before,”. “I became obsessed with the thought of bringing the experience I had in Naples back to Canberra.

“So, I started practicing and perfecting my own pizza at home, learning what I could from YouTube videos. I also traveled between Sydney and Melbourne, trying and testing different recipes. I did that for 8 years before I finally decided to go back to Naples to undertake the official AVPN pizza training course in 2016.

Establishing pizzerias under the AVPN guidelines is no easy feat. They have strict guidelines on everything to do with the pizza making process including, the type of equipment installed, the ingredients and even the position of the oven. Trecento is hoping to be the first pizzeria in Canberra to obtain the official AVPN trademark for ‘Verace Pizza Napoletana’ or ‘True Neapolitan Pizza’.

Canberra’s most authentic Italian Pizza: Trecento Pizzeria & Bar.

Walking into the restaurant for the first time, I was immediately drawn to the pizza oven and the chef who was dutifully standing there constantly overlooking and checking the contents cooking inside.

The whole menu is impressive and enticing with a great selection of antipasti, pasta, sides, desserts, and wine. If I was there for a leisurely dinner, I would have succumbed to ordering a little of each to try.

Since our visit was for a quick lunch, we turned our attention to the pizza menu, which is split between pizza rosso (with classic tomato sauce) and pizza bianca (without classic tomato sauce). We choose to share a crisp side salad of rucola e parmigiano (rocket, snow pea tendril, pear, & parmesan) and one of the selections from the pizza bianca menu, the porcinella with buffalo mozzarella, parmesan, porcini, neapolitan sausage, chilli & basil.

We were extremely happy with our selection, although, from the food coming out of the kitchen/oven, you can’t make a poor choice. The hint of chilli with the earthy taste of the porcini and slight fattiness of the sausage was a perfect combination, atop of the wood fired pizza base. It definitely tempted us to plan a return visit to try more.

Do you have a favourite pizzeria in Canberra? Share in the comments section below and let us know your favourite toppings too!

Trecento is located at Unit 33, Manuka Terrace, Manuka (at the old Mecca Bah site).